Food in Your Teeth

Psalm 139:23-24 Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!

Have you ever had a bit of food on your face and not realized it? You walk around talking with people and they can’t stop staring at that seed of broccoli caught in the corner of your mouth or that chunk of spinach on your front tooth. How embarrassing! Then, finally, a good friend whispers in your ear that there’s food on your face. With gratitude for your friend, your excuse yourself and take care of the situation.

How many of us walk around with sin caught in our teeth and not realize it? Or perhaps we’ve justified or excused the sin and are in denial of what others can see. Maybe we say, “Well, everyone else has stuff in their teeth too so I’m just fitting in.” The problem is sin is sin and it messes us up and keeps us at a distance from God. It doesn’t matter what we think about it or how we justify it. Just like gravity is gravity, sin affects everyone.

The psalmist goes to the only one who can accurately point out, seek out and root out our core problems. God alone can search our hearts, our thoughts, our messed up ways. We can’t even do it ourselves very well. We need God’s Word to do it. It’s called the Law and hurts, embarrasses and points out the obvious and the not-so-obvious pieces of sin. So there we sit, in all our shame with the food all over our faces and stuck in our teeth. What can we do? Nothing.

But Jesus can, has whispered and will continue to whisper in your ear. “I forgive you. I will wash your face. I washed the disciples’ feet. I will wash your face and make it clean and presentable.” In baptism, Jesus washes our face and makes us clean. In the confession and forgiveness of sins from other Christians, he washes our face and makes us clean. In His Supper, through the body and blood, he washes our face and makes us presentable. Through those things, he leads us in the “way everlasting.”

Heavenly Father, thank you for knowing all things and knowing what’s in our hearts. Thank you for knowing what’s there, even when we don’t want to see it. Above all, thank you for your Son, who came down to walk among all of us with food on our teeth and on our chins. Thank you for washing us clean and making us presentable before you. In Jesus’ name, amen.

For Such A Time As This

What an amazing weekend! Very busy but satisfying. Three baptisms, an ordination, a retirement and an installation, all in one day. WOW!
And now the dust settles...
     I find myself in the seat of the Senior Pastor at Zion Lutheran Church in Fairbanks, Alaska. Are you kidding me? Just three years ago, I arrived from St. Louis, Missouri fresh from the Seminary and God put me on the anvil of pastoral ministry. For three years, He pounded on me with His hammer and stuck me in the forge, then into a bucket of water. This horseshoe is not finished. There is more pounding to be done. Some of it I'm looking forward to but some of it, I'm not. No one likes to be pounded on by the smithy. But that's the only way to be shaped and formed.
     How will I lead? Not sure to be honest. I pray that the grace of God and the spirit of Jesus are the leads and I'm here to be used by Him. Jesus gave his disciples a hard time for their aspirations to leadership and prominent seats in his kingdom. See, we don't volunteer for this. Jesus calls us and by His Spirit, he enlightens and sanctifies us for service. I can only lead so long as Jesus leads. I can only do what He calls me to do.
     Now, the truth is that I will make mistakes. Probably a lot of them. Most of the time I will make mistakes because I'm trying to do things my own way and thinking I know best. Some of the time, I will make mistakes because I listened to what others had to say and followed their advice. The amazing thing is that even though I am sure to make mistakes and messes, Jesus still says, "Follow me and I will make you a fisher of men."
     God never reveals too much too soon. He only shows me a little at a time because it's all I can handle. So, don't ask me where I'll be in 5 years or 10 years or where the church will be or what we'll be doing. I don't know. God knows, but he's not tellin'. We'll find out together.
     As Senior Pastor, this is my prayer right now, today: Father in Heaven, I'm glad you know what you're doing. Because I'm really not too sure. There's a lot in front of me and around me. I can't do it all. You have graciously surrounded me with gifted people. Encourage them, by Your Spirit, to use their gifts in whatever way you would have them. May we support and learn from one another in the bonds of fellowship. May the grace of your Son Jesus and your mercy pour out over the work of your hand in this place. Help us to come to you not just when we need it, but before we need it. In Jesus' name amen.

Sheep and Shepherds

John 10:11 Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me...”

How many shepherds do you know? I know a few people who raise sheep for 4-H, but I’m not so sure they’re what you would call shepherds. But just the same, these folks know their sheep. They know each of their sheep by name and by sight. I guess you get to know sheep pretty well when you raise them from lambs on up.

Jesus knows me. I don’t know where I heard it first, but someone reversed the lyrics on an old Sunday School favorite. “Jesus knows me, this I love.” Jesus can pick you out from a crowd. He knows everything about you, better than you know yourself. That’s hard to believe, but it’s true. He knows the good things and the bad things. He knows the light places and the dark places. Just as the friends who raise sheep know all of the faults and all of the benefits of their sheep, Jesus knows you inside and out.

That can be a bit intimidating and perhaps embarrassing. I don’t know what goes on in a sheep’s mind when they are being “inspected.” (Probably not much) But I know what goes on in my mind when my heart is being inspected by Jesus. When I come to confession and think over the dark spots of my heart, I am embarrassed and ashamed that they are still there. But John says that in Jesus is life and that life is the light of men. So the light has to come and shine in the dark places of our lives so that we can truly live. The sheep need to be looked over from head to tail and the faults revealed so that they can be repaired and the sheep can win the blue ribbon.

Jesus knows his sheep and his sheep know him. He knows everything about them and still loves them. He knows all of the dark places of our hearts and still, the good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep. He laid down his life for you and for me on the cross. And he has some of us shepherds under him to care for his sheep. Pray for your pastors that they may speak with the voice of Jesus and not lead the people astray.

Heavenly Father, you know more about me than I know about myself. Thank you for bringing me into your pasture and continuing to care for me through your shepherds here and now. In Jesus’ name, amen.